The Houston Rockets simply can’t catch a break on the injury front. While reigning MVP James Harden has shouldered a huge amount of the workload with both Chris Paul and Eric Gordon out, he’s had some major help from Clint Capela. And now, the Rockets will no longer have the young center to rely on.
After Capela had been ruled out for Monday’s game against the Memphis Grizzlies due to a thumb injury, there was no final word on his status beyond this game. The outlook didn’t seem terrible at the time, but that all changed quickly. As ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski revealed just hours after the original news, Capela will miss four to six weeks with his thumb injury. This comes after news that the MRI showed ligament damage.
The tall task of continuing to win games without key pieces gets even tougher moving forward for the Rockets, who seem likely to begin eyeing a potential trade. To make matters even worse, the level Capela had played at as of late was phenomenal and leaves a huge hole on an already depleted roster.
Clint Capela’s Recent Dominance
While Capela has averaged 17.2 points and 12.6 rebounds per game this season, his numbers have increased due to the team’s injuries. Over the past 11 games, Capela has posted a double-double eight times, including five performances in which he pulled down 19 or more rebounds. Through the first six games of January, his averages jumped to 21.2 points and 13.0 rebounds.
Currently, the Rockets have roughly seven (maybe eight) players who have even seen legitimate minutes in their rotation this season. At least for the foreseeable future, this injury likely means Harden, Austin Rivers, P.J. Tucker, Gerald Green, and Danuel House will receive as much court time as they can possibly handle
With the Capela news coming down, it left the team’s fanbase in complete shock and frustrated by the fact they can’t seem to avoid the injury bug. And those fans made sure to voice their opinion on social media.
Twitter Reacts to Clint Capela Injury
No Chris Paul, Eric Gordon, or Clint Capela……injury bug has officially bit us #Rockets
@wojespn UGGGGGGGHHHHJHJ So now we are without THREE of our five starters.
James Harden is now playing without Chris Paul, Eric Gordon, AND Clint Capela. My goodness.
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Clint Capela’s Injury Has Rockets Fans Furious Over Run of Bad Luck